Filipino's re-enact crucifixion with real nails

Thousands gather to watch Filipino devotees in Pampanga province re-enact the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Good Friday, using real nails driven through their hands and feet.

12:20PM BST 06 Apr 2012

Nearly a dozen Catholic devotees were nailed on crosses as thousands of spectators watched the bloody re-enactment of Jesus Christ's crucifixion on Good Friday in the Filipino province of Pampanga.

Several men cried out in the small farming village of Cutud, about 50 miles (80 kilometres) north of Manila, as two inch nails soaked with alcohol were driven into their hands and feet before they were lifted up on crosses in the sweltering heat.

Scores of devotees also whipped themselves hours before the crucifixion in a symbolic repentance of their sins.

After the ritual, the penitents were brought down from the crosses and their wounds treated at on-site clinics.

These volunteer crucifixions in the northern Pampanga province are the most extreme displays of religious devotion in the predominantly Catholic country.

The Catholic Church has disapproved of crucifixions and self-flagellation, saying they are misinterpretations of faith.

Participants, however, say they the event is an important sacrifice for them.

Filipino carpenter Ruben Enaje, who has done 26 crucifixions, said he will continue the practice his form of repentance.

"Even if the Church bans it, we will still keep doing it. They should understand that we keep must honour our practice as we honour their teachings," he said.